Mayor issues order outlining transgender use of single-sex bathrooms

Mayor de Blasio signed an executive order requiring all city-owned facilities to allow transgender and gender non-conforming individuals to freely use single-sex bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.

Monday’s executive order, which includes city agency offices, public parks, pools, playgrounds, certain museums and recreation centers, means that the transgender population will not have to show identification, medical documentation, or any other form of proof or verification of gender to use a single-sex facility, the mayor’s office reported.

“Today’s order makes it clear that New York City fully supports the right of every New Yorker to use the single-sex facility consistent with their gender identity,” de Blasio stated. “Access to bathrooms and other single-sex facilities is a fundamental human right that should not be restricted or denied to anyone.”

While the new executive order applied to city-owned entities, the New York City Commission on Human Rights recently clarified that any employer, housing provider or public accommodation that denied bathroom access based on gender identity could be prosecuted, the mayor’s office added.

“New York City is proud to enforce one of the strongest human rights laws in the country, which protects the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals to live freely and with respect,” the mayor added.

The latest executive order required city agencies to post the new single-sex facility policy within three months, train managers on the policy within a year and train frontline staff on the policy within two years, the mayor’s office added.

Based on New York City’s Human Rights Law, other gender identity violations include failing to use an individual’s preferred name or pronoun, failing to provide health-care benefits that cover gender-affirming care or enforcing appearance standards that impose different requirements based on sex or gender, according to the mayor’s office.